10


Class Notes
 
24 August - Introduction
31 August -
Reading: Good Will Hunting (first draft)
7 September
Developing Thrust/SAV/DAV
Judith Weston - teaches directing, wrote a book Directing Actors
making a production board, plotting out the film shoot
write out the thrust on each scene slug (shorthand)
they ride bicycles
versus, love at first sight
printed script book: print script on the left, blank page for notes on the right (for right-handed)
Build notecard stack of scenes with scene-thrusts written on each card
then you can flip through, running the film in your head
once you have a verb, particularize the verb through adjustments
the cards for scenes will have characters' motivations, DAV, SAV, thrust
Characters
Stanislavsky - circumstances are the human problems contained in a story.
Remember the idea is not to impress the actors with your imagination but to trigger theirs
Each character has a main need
the want is more evident
sitting on your ass between two chairs - french phrase critiquing indecision
character traits - emotional DNA
imagine telling an actor "to win" or "to convince" based on their traits
ie, you want to convince him, and you're aggressive and jealous.
twenty, thirty years ago, characters were bundles of virtues
now, the dirtier a character is, the more the actor is excited
Character Beats - an ACTion provoked by a need and expressed by an ACTive verb
obstacles, thoughts, circumstances, failure or success to accomplish the action create a new Beat
an action causing transformation
the dialog of the close-up
subtext - the richness of silence, thoughts, inner dialogue, comments, paraphrasing
obstacles are the essence of dramatic action
transition
the change of need between one beat and an other
often caused by an obstacle
generally engender strong subtext
visual analogy: a hinge
Character beat by beat objectives
confirm each character's primary need for the scene
give it an active verb
find each beat for each character
give it an active verb
find the subtext
give it an active verb or paraphrase
find each transition
give it an active verb
don't tell an actor how to say a line
give them an intention
Homework:
prepare shooting script as per our model
complete the cards of your first five scenes
establish the characters main elements
find the beats of the scene you will direct
and the beat by beat objectives
go through the script, finding the beats
associate actions and lines, actions that reinforce the verb/intention
Technique
Film is the truth at 24 frames per second; when you cut you lie - Godard
Kuleshov Effect
blank expression, cut away to a bowl of soup - he's hungry!
blank expression, cut away to a grave - he's sad!
when working with an unprofessional actor
have them act less
and cut to something that
ellipsis can cut out "shoe leather"
early film was like theater - stationary, wide shot
the first close-ups were shocking
Coverage
Master Shot
showing context, usually wide
for example:
film a dialog, compete dialog, two people talking across a table
then go back and film over the shoulder, close-ups, with specific sections
Insert
showing detail - can be filmed later
Does reality TV make things more casual?
less of a need to fix the camera and shoot and then move the camera and shoot
Screen direction
people should maintain a consistent gaze, a facing direction
the stage line, the 180 degree line
keep camera, shots on the other side of the line
reaction shot
what's unseen has power manifest in the face of the people watching
handles
always shoot footage, before and after
ie, bounce (lean on quick) a still car to give the illusion of arrival
vary the size and direction of shots significantly enough
otherwise it can be hard to cut from scene to scene
Movies: (splitscreen - picture-in-picture - experiments occurred in the 1960s) More American Grafitti, Woodstock, Down With Love
14 September
How to speak to actors
Directing - seems to be about giving actors verbs to work with
informing their subtext
for example, giving Shakespearean languange context of modern subtext
prithee leave me be, becomes: don't be such an asshole
director might perform the subtext
not the lines itself, but paraphrased
good actors will do the work you should do
find their own action verbs and write them with the text
not rehearsal, but roundtable
talking through the script until you all agree on the beats of the scene
not on the set, not physically acting necessarily, but talking through it
give all your notes as action verb
bravado becomes to gloat, to condescend
never "how" but "why"
Inside the Actor's Studio
If you find that he's smiling too much, you have to give him a different motivation
director's role: to constantly reassure the actor, to keep them from defensiveness
never do a reading to an actor